1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pollinating machine and more particularly to such a machine for pollinating plants grown in a row, such as alfalfa grown for seed, by pressing the plants together transversely of the row.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In growing plants for seed production, it is desirable that a high proportion of the blossoms be pollinated in order to produce as much seed as possible for the investment in land, water, and labor. Alfalfa grown commercially is usually pollinated by bees, which only pollinate about ten percent of the alfalfa blossoms, although it is known that manual pressing of individual alfalfa blossoms at the proper time greatly increases the proportion of blossoms pollinated. Such manual pollination is not practical in alfalfa seed production and a variety of machines have been developed for pressing alfalfa plants to promote pollination. However, insofar as known to the applicant, none of these previous machines has been sufficiently successful to remain in use.